Four Swords, Naruto Style!
by Aoi Shinkaze
Summary: It's been two and a half years, and Naruto is back in Konoha. The Akatsuki are on the move. Whispers of darker foes have caught Jiraiya's ears, and Orochimaru is ever present. Amongst all these new foes, how will Naruto fare? Well, he does have four zanpakuto, after all.
1. Chapter 1

Finally decided to get off my ass and write out a bit of this story.

Just a warning, I can and will vacillate between using English and Japanese for the characters' attacks. Sorry if it seems confusing. If you don't understand any terms I chuck in either, feel free to PM me.

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

Disclaimer: I own neither Bleach nor Naruto, and I'm glad I don't, because my drawing sucks.

[A Mile out of Konoha]

Two males walked side by side down a long and dusty road. The taller of the two seemed older, and walked with the sort of gait of someone who has imbibed copious amounts of alcohol, and is proud of it. His expression appeared to be locked in a sake induced daze. The other male, who seemed to be quite a bit younger, and was only marginally shorter, had an expression of fond exasperation upon his face, the kind one gains after having to deal with young children or stubborn uncles.

The younger male, Naruto, turned to his mentor, teacher and irritating superior.

"Oy, Ero-sennin." Not receiving a response, Naruto waited a few seconds for the man to walk slightly ahead of him, and swiftly booted him in the rear, sending the man flying into a bush.

"Oi, Gaki! What?!" The man, Jiraiya, could be heard grumbling and complaining as he slowly dragged himself out of the underbrush he had landed in. "What have I been teaching you about respecting your elders?"

"I don't know Ero-sennin, I stopped listening when you started groping a woman in the middle of your speech." Naruto, his blonde hair shining in the noonday sun, had a faint look of distaste on his face, even as he recalled the punch that the woman had delivered to his sensei, knocking the man flat and making Naruto smile non-stop for hours.

Jiraiya had finally managed to extricate himself from the apparently quite troublesome bush. He turned, eyes glinting, with a smile that seemed entirely too evil for Naruto's face. "Well then boy, how about I teach you how to respect your elders properly?"

Naruto spared a single glance, before both arms blurred, a dozen kunai pinning the sage to a tree as a gigantic spike of earth erupted where the man had been standing. Before the ninja in the trees could blink, she and her three cohorts were swiftly beheaded by a blur of steel.

Naruto touched down again next to Jiraiya, who was calmly picking the kunai out. The man handed the dozen knives to the teen, who gratefully stowed them back in his pouch. Jiraiya glanced at the two swords Naruto had used, both once more at Naruto's hips, fully sheathed.

"One of these days Gaki, you're going to have to show Tsunade and me those swords of yours."

"I know. But the longer I can postpone it, the better, right?"

"Whatever kid. Now let's go. Did you see who those bounty hunters were?"

"Yeah." Naruto nonchalantly lifted his arms behind his head, yawning as he replied, "Small timers. Not worth turning in."

"Alright brat."

The two continued on their way, heading towards Konoha, the four swords on Naruto's back making slight whispering noises as he moved. The scroll on Jiraiya's back provided similar noises, something that Naruto hadn't been able to appreciate until his swords, his zanpakutos, did the same.

[Hokage's Office, Konoha]

Tsunade paced relentlessly within her office, Shizune in the background with Sakura, both trying to calm her down. Her mind was stuck within a rather circular train of thought, all focused on why Jiraiya and Naruto were a day late. If Akatsuki had captured Naruto, there was no way of knowing, and no way for her to save the little brat without any knowledge on the mysterious organization, which not even Jiraiya had been able to pin down. That Jiraiya hadn't sent a toad was both worrying and not at the same time, it meant only one of three things. One, nothing was wrong, they were merely delayed by something unavoidable, and so would be here shortly; two, there had been an attack or something of the sort, but not serious enough for Jiraiya to tell her; and three, Jiraiya was dead, and so could not send her any news.

Tsunade wished Jiraiya was here so she could _punch_ him.

[Half a Mile Away from Konoha]

Jiraiya sneezed. He hoped some pretty girl was talking about him.

Naruto grumbled as he continued at the horribly slow pace set by his teacher. Honestly, if the man hadn't insisted on the torturously slow pace they would have been home yesterday. Naruto also knew that the man's excuse was just as terrible. 'You need to work on patience.' Sure Ero-sennin, sure. Especially after the days he had to spend, staking out the most random and desolate places imaginable. All on the orders of his psychopathic teacher.

Naruto perked up however, as he felt faint traces of chakra in the air. He backed up, and tried to _see_ the barrier Jiraiya had told him about. The barrier protected Konoha, warning its inhabitants of whomever crossed its lines. He let the faintest trickle of chakra enter one eye, while keeping the other tightly shut. Jiraiya had said that it was better to look out of one enhanced eye, than have both be incapacitated and useless.

Not that it had stopped the man from removing one sense after another over the course of days, trying to make him as efficient as possible. Now Naruto was sensitive to even the faintest hints of chakra. He had even picked up on where the Kyubi had appeared, 16 years ago, though Jiraiya said that wasn't very impressive since Naruto held the beast in his mind and so could instantly and accurately sense its presence, or even the lingering signs of it. However, when they snuck into Kumo, the teen had picked up on both the Nibi and the Hachibi's chakras, and _then_ Jiraiya had allowed a bit of surprise and pride show on his face.

Naruto was glad, they were almost at Konoha, and if he focused, he could hear the barest hints of sound coming from the direction of the village. He cast a pleading look at his mentor, and the man rolled his eyes, sighed gustily, pinching his nose and nodded.

"Fine brat."

"YATTA!" Naruto's yell didn't even faze the Sannin, who at this point was selectively deaf to such events. The hyperactive ninja who had been cooped up for the past hour or so grinned entirely too widely at his mentor, and then took off. Said mentor groaned before following at the same speed.

[Konoha Gate]

Izumo and Kotetsu, the so-called perpetual gate-keepers, blinked in shock as they heard a long, drawn out yell coming from the road that led into Konoha. They leaned out slightly, and gaped at the approaching dust cloud with some trepidation. Before they could enter battle positions, however, they felt a very familiar chakra at the edge of their senses, and their mouths opened in shock as they felt Naruto's distinct chakra heading towards them at high speed. It was closely followed by Jiraiya-sama's chakra, which assured them. Laughing, they returned to their posts, only to blink in surprise as a giant, billowing cloud of dust blew by them.

They looked up at Naruto's sheepish face, as Jiraiya-sama held him by the collar, groaning.

Izumo spoke first, "It's been boring without you Naruto. Good to see you back!"

Naruto grinned happily, his black robes fluttering in the wake of his passage as he took in their genuine gladness. "It's great to be back in Konoha!"

Jiraiya shook his head as they signed in, and the two ninja sped off towards the Hokage Tower.

[End Chapter]

So, tell me whatcha think!

Also, should I or should I not add the –ttebayo/-dattebayo to the end of some or Naruto's sentences? I dislike the "Believe it" verbal tic, mostly because it brings up ad memories of the dubbed anime, but I don't really mind the dattebayo one. If by the time I write the next chapter I have enough yes or no responses, I'll do whichever, but if I feel there wasn't sufficient input I'm gonna stick it in.

We'll get to the topic of Naruto's swords, and which ones they are, hopefully in the next chapter. You'll also find out why Jiraiya doesn't know what the blades look like, even though Naruto's had them for almost the whole training break.

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

I've had the idea for this story in my head for quite some time.

I just never got around to actually typing it out.

I decided not to add the verbal tic, mostly cuz I haven't really seen it in any other Naruto fics, and really, that's not the point of this story.

I came up with this story before the whole Quincy Invasion Arc, so~ I'll be accepting some changes, and discarding others.

I'll explain more after the chapter.

"Speaking."

'Thoughts.'

"_Justu"_

'Zanpakuto.'

'**Kyubi.'**

[Hokage Tower, Konoha]

Tsunade grinned at Shizune and Sakura, making them question her. She raised a finger to her lips, as suddenly all three kunoichi could hear a yell.

"BAAA-CHAAAAN!"

Tsunade's grin disappeared, replaced with a stormy expression as she wound up and slammed her fist perfectly into Naruto's face as he appeared in the room. The teen paused, and then was shot out of the room like a marshmallow fired from a cannon, and went zooming off into the distance.

"Ahem." Tsunade, Shizune and Sakura turned around slowly to stare at Jiraiya, the latter two looking apologetic, and the former looking thunderous.

"What do you want, you old lecher?" Tsunade demanded of Jiraiya.

"Well you see Hime, I've worked very hard to keep my student from getting injured, and it appears that you've banished him rather firmly. I'd like to get him back." Jiraiya grinned as he spoke, wiggling his eyebrows at the Fifth Hokage in an entirely suggestive manner while serious sounding words spewed from his mouth.

"You old goat! You come back after two and a half years, and all you two do is greet me in inappropriate ways!"

Sakura hid behind Shizune, who had an entirely serene expression on her face, as the two Sannin bickered worse than Naruto and Sasuke used to.

After a few minutes, Naruto seemed to drag himself up into the room, collapsing heavily onto the floor. Jiraiya poked him with a stick the man had pulled out of nowhere. "Oi, brat. Get up."

Naruto groaned, before floating up into a standing position as if he was a puppet.

"Hi Baa-chan! Hi Shizune-nee-chan! Hi Sakura-chan!"

"I don't get a hi brat?"

"But I came here with you Ero-sennin!"

"I see how it is Gaki."

"Excuse me you two!" Tsunade impatiently interrupted the random byplay that had cropped up between the two jokers before her. "Now, we need to know precisely where Naruto is, ability and power wise."

Naruto stepped forward, all signs of playfulness gone from his face as he stood in front of his Hokage. "I've gained greater mastery over the Rasengan, I've increased my resistance to Genjutsu, my Taijutsu has gotten better, and now I am an S-rank ninja, which is only augmented by my swords' powers."

Tsunade perked up at the mention of swords. Since Hayate's death before the Sand-Sound invasion, there hadn't been many non-ANBU swordsmen or women. However, she just couldn't see Naruto wielding swords.

"Oh really? Care to demonstrate?"

"Um." Naruto gained a hesitant look, then as he took in the eager and slightly impatient looks from all sides, he plunged his right arm to his left side, and in one smooth movement, unsheathed the blade at his left hip.

Holding it vertically, he proclaimed, "This, is Hyorinmaru. And this," his left hand swept the blade at his right hip up and out, "is Zabimaru." A faint sense of chill pervaded the room, which even Sakura picked up on.

Naruto grinned as he felt the rush of power associated with drawing his blades fill him. The other occupants in the room examined the swords, before Naruto swiftly re-sheathed them.

Tsunade looked pensive, before posing a question, "What do they do, Naruto?"

"Um, I've been trying to keep that a secret, Baa-chan, I don't want anyone to get ahold of that information, especially not Akatsuki." Naruto looked apologetic and resolved, a face that Tsunade and Jiraiya had agreed made him look slightly constipated.

"Tell me anything you can about your swords then."

Naruto brightened up, glad he could discuss more mundane things. "Okay! Hyorinmaru and Zabimaru are technically the weaker set, with the other two being the stronger ones. I don't like using those casually, since they can cause a lot of damage. Um, I get a speed boost regardless of which one I'm using, though one gives a higher speed boost than the others."

"In other words, not much. Though how fast are you, and how much of a speed boost?"

At this Naruto looked serious, and smirked slightly "I'm as fast as Gai-sensei normally, and Ero-sennin tells me I approach the speed of the Fourth Hokage with any of the swords out, and are as fast as him with the speed sword."

Tsunade's eyes widened, such speeds would make Naruto the fastest in the village. "I suppose we'll set you up against Gai at some point, to get your max speed confirmed."

Naruto nodded, before adopting a serious expression. "So whose team would I be put on? I'm the last Genin in the Konoha 12."

As Tsunade opened her mouth to answer, a voice came from the window. "Why, mine of course, you were never taken off Team 7."

Naruto looked over at the window, smirking at Kakashi. "Oh really? That's great!"

Kakashi gave Naruto a sideways glance, slightly suspicious of the open smirk on the teen's face, unsure how to take the more confident approach of his old and again student.

Everyone's attention snapped back to Tsunade as she cleared her throat. "Yes, well, we'll have Kakashi test you and Sakura to see how you three fit together in a three man team for now. The test will be tomorrow morning, that will give you time to rest and recharge, Naruto, and for you, Jiraiya, to tell me the latest Intel."

Naruto saluted Tsunade, snapped off a quick "Sure Baa-chan!", ducked a thrown paper weight, and disappeared out the window, leaving a small package in Kakashi's hand.

Tsunade turned the Jiraiya, dismissing Shizune, Sakura and Kakashi, who was in awe over his shiny new book.

"So, what news on the Akatsuki? Also, is there anything _else_ you can tell me about Naruto?"

Jiraiya and Tsunade both pretended to not notice that Kakashi lingered behind. "Well, as he has said, I would not hesitate ranking the boy as S-rank. He has managed to learn more ninjutsu, so he isn't as sadly limited to Summoning, Rasengan, and Kage Bunshin. As usual, the brat manages to be incapable of learning C and D-rank ninjutsu, but B, A and S-ranks are no issue. I don't want to", at this, Jiraiya turned and smirked at where Kakashi was leaning in the shadows, "spoil the surprise of what those jutsus are, of course. It's best if you learn firsthand. Oh, Naruto displays even more idiot savant tendencies by being a genius at seals, Gaki is currently fast approaching Seal Master rank like myself, and will probably be a Grand Master within a year."

[Next Morning, Suna]

Two cloaked Akatsuki members attack Suna's Kage, Gaara.

[Next Morning, Training Ground 7, Konoha]

Kakashi and Sakura faced off against each other, both wondering where the Orange, er, Naruto was. Kakashi's eyes flicked towards the small copse of trees that hid the two loyal Sannin and Shizune every now and then.

Sakura's gasp alerted him to the arrival of Naruto, who had flickered into view.

"Good, now that we're all here, we can start. Like before, there are two bells, and you need to get them from me before sundown." Kakashi smiled his particular eye smile at Naruto and Sakura.

"Ne, sensei, should we use 'lethal force' like you said last time?" Sakura's smile sent a shiver down Kakashi's spine.

Kakashi hurriedly waved his hands back and forth, "That won't be necessary Sakura."

Naruto grinned and replied, "Good! We won't be short one Jonin tomorrow then!"

As he completed the sentence, Naruto's form blurred, a kunai clashing against Kakashi's own hurriedly drawn one.

Kakashi's face had gone blank as he looked up at Naruto, finding that he needed quite a bit of his strength to keep the kunai away from his chest. "I didn't say begin, Naruto."

Naruto's face was equally blank, "No one calls a ninja battle to start in the real world, Kaka-sensei." He then stabbed downwards with his other hand, the ground cratering as Kakashi managed to get clear. The two men seemed to blur across the field, kunai flashing as they repeatedly met, sparks flying as the knives scraped against each other.

After two minutes, they separated, both at either end of the field. Naruto sheathed his kunai, and then knelt, slapping both hands on the ground and then lifting one, all five fingers pointed at Kakashi as Naruto roared _"Kinton: Goryu!"_

Each finger lit up with the symbol of an element, lightning, fire, wind, water and earth. An elemental dragon roared out of each respective symbol, each flying at Kakashi with such speed that the Jonin barely had time for a substitution due to the small amount of distance between the two men.

A huge explosion covered the clearing with smoke as the five dragons crashed into the poor log, detonating with enough force to bend trees and make the other ninja in the clearing cover their faces.

Sakura, Shizune, and Tsunade has equally dumbfounded expressions on their faces, the last three minutes surprising them immensely. Jiraiya looked on with an extremely proud and satisfied look, happy that others would be able to see how well his student could acquit himself. Kakashi was crouched behind a tree, now fully aware of both Naruto's fuinjutsu skills and his far increased threat level.

Naruto called out to the trees as the smoke cleared, a figure becoming visible within it. "Finally ready to get serious, Kaka-sensei?" He smirked, a hand falling to the handle of the sword on his right hip.

Kakashi stared at Naruto, Sharingan bared as he truly stood ready to take his student seriously as a fellow S-rank. Both eyes narrowed as Naruto unsheathed his lower right side sword, the blade flashing in the sunlight. He tensed, then jumped clear as the ground that he had formerly been occupying cratered underneath the force of Naruto's blow, an intense look of concentration on his face as he strained to predict the movements of his former student, knowing the Sharingan was helping immensely.

Naruto grinned now, arm slashing at his former sensei, managing to look involved yet casual, each blow cratering the ground as Kakashi hurriedly jumped out of the way at the last second.

The teen paused for a moment, a twinge of worry crossing his face as he felt the seal on his neck throb. Kakashi instantly capitalized on the second of reprieve, dashing over to the river and running through a set of hand seals, sending a water dragon and a fireball in Naruto's direction.

Naruto calmly raised his hand, five elemental dragons rushing out at the water dragon and fireball, annihilating both and causing Kakashi to fall back as the wind dragon and earth dragon survived to pursuit him, both exploding against the trees.

Kakashi knelt behind a rock, his breath coming harder as he took stock of Naruto's new level of power. The seconds he wasted however, were crucial, as it gave Naruto ample time to sheath the sword he wielded, and draw the one on his right shoulder.

The very blade itself seemed to hum as Kakashi stepped back into the clearing, his eyes widening as they took in the new blade.

Naruto smiled widely as he spoke to his sensei. "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, I'm gonna hafta end this now." The teen simply disappeared, not even a blur to signify movement in any direction. Kakashi attempted to dodge, his Sharingan spinning wildly as he tried to predict an attack he couldn't see, feeling oddly like he used to before he had the Sharingan, being unable to keep up with his sensei's speed.

One cut appeared on the Jonin's chest. Followed by another on his arm. And then his leg. Within seconds, dozens of shallow cuts began to show on Kakashi's torso, legs and arms, all without a hair being spotted of Naruto.

After ten seconds, with the spectators having counted well over two hundred small cuts on Kakashi, Naruto re-appeared in his original position, sword hanging loosely in his grip, looking only slightly ruffled from his high speed maneuver. In his other hand, he held both bells, before swiftly tossing one to Sakura, who barely managed to snatch it out of the air, shock and awe dulling her reactions.

Kakashi let out a low groan as he collapsed to his knees, blood slowly trickling from his numerous, if shallow wounds. "I guess you win, Naruto, Sakura. And it's only midday." The Jonin cast his eyes upward, breath coming slowly. "I guess, you have really improved, Naruto. Although," Kakashi looked past Naruto, at Sakura, "I don't think Sakura really had time to do much, you hogged he whole fight, Naruto."

Naruto grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head as he turned to his female team member. "Heh, sorry, Sakura-chan, I got a bit excited."

Sakura's expression changed to one of fond exasperation. "Here, let me show you what I've learned then." So saying, she drew back her fist and slammed it into the ground, creating a crater nearly on par with those made by Tsunade.

[Skies over Suna, Suna]

Gaara panted, the twin attacks by the Akatsuki pair swiftly wearing him down, the combination of explosives and puppets being a fair bit more than he could keep track of. He kept sending a small pulse of chakra to the seal on his neck every few minutes, knowing he might need Naruto's assistance at any second.

[Training Ground 7, Konoha]

Sakura ran her hands over Kakashi's torso one last time, making sure all the cuts were healed as he sat against the trunk of a tree, recovering from his brief but intense bout with Naruto. Naruto himself was staring blankly into the air, a faint look of worry on his face. Jiraiya bored a hole into the side of Naruto's face, his own growing more and more worried as Tsunade gave him looks.

Kakashi coughed. "Well, it seems like we have no shortage of fire power now. Naruto, any chance we could see any of your other seals in action? Naruto?" Kakashi's last query was worried as Naruto's eyes shot wide open, a look of extreme panic crossing the teen's face as a hand shot to the side of his neck, clamping down on a suddenly flaring seal.

Naruto spun towards Jiraiya, shouting, "Gaara is down!"

[Skies over Suna, Suna]

Gaara sighed softly as he fell from the sky, chakra spent as he sent a spike of chakra towards the seal on his neck, glad to have at least spared his beloved village from the depredation of the two Akatsuki members, knowing that the cavalry in the form of a royally pissed off Naruto was soon to arrive.

{End Chapter}

Well that wraps it up. Gaara fell faster than in the anime due to Deidara and Sasori working together, and those two unfortunate souls are about to be introduced to the sharp end of Naruto's swords.


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome to the newest chapter of Four Swords, Naruto Style!

Don't feel befuddled if our favorite characters don't pop up right away, there's a nice bit of action in this one, and I hope you enjoy it as much as last chapter's fight between Naruto and Kakashi.

All will be clear in time, my readers.

[Forest 50 miles east of Konoha, Land of Fire]

The ninja panted harshly, his breath coming in quick bursts as he tried to still the trembling of his limbs, exhaustion, dulled shock and still raw anger writ on his face, thinking that he had finally lost his hunter. He was one of the last of his team of renegade ninjas, ronin. They weren't very strong, but they weren't weak either, all of them at least C-rank in strength, with half of them being B-rank. The group of twenty insured that there was ample protection against standard hunter ninjas, who wouldn't be able to overcome so many foes. At the same time, though they had rebelled against their various villages, they were smart. Twenty made them strong enough to discourage hunters, but they were still small enough a group to not warrant any true combined action. It was well known to the group members that a team of even six or seven A-rank ninjas would most likely be enough to take on the whole group and succeed in killing them all. Thus they were secure in their own little niche of being too strong to be assailed easily, but too few in number to be a threat worth eliminating.

This view was entirely changed when a single ninja, wearing no emblem and only a sword, nothing visible of her face but blazing purple eyes had dropped from the trees surrounding their camp and cut down 5 of the group members in half as many seconds, spitting their assistant leader on her blade before the rest of them reacted, dashing away from the camp center where she had descended into.

"Who the hell are you?" One of them shouted, all of them battle ready as their lifeless former assistant leader slid from the kunoichi's blade. Their leader stared on, his eyes as cold as ice, hiding his anger from all of his group members, but not from the lithe ninja standing in the center of the camp, their meal fire doused by the blood of three of the slain.

The kunoichi's face was as inscrutable as before, no motion betraying her thoughts as she responded. "Who I am is of no importance. All of you, on the other hand, have prices on your heads. They will help feed my village."

The woman's coldly efficient response garnered no reaction other than each of the ninja tensing, their fingers trembling with anticipation of the fight about to commence. They were thwarted, however, when the ninja vanished, her form blurring with speed that only their leader could track and react to, if only barely as he brought his sword up to block. But however fast he was, he was unprepared for the blood coating the ninja's blade to fly off of the metal, splashing into his eyes, blinding him. He roared as he shoved the ninja back, furiously trying to clear his eyes, knowing he was too late as he heard the shouts and screams of many elemental attacks being sent out at the enemy, who was too quick for all but him.

By the time he cleared his vision, only five of the original twenty remained, himself included. He grimly set his jaw, knowing without knowing that his group would fight to the last, even if it meant their death, for even if they were traitors to their villages, they had become comrades in the harsh environs where they wandered, vengeance and retribution being foremost in their minds. But he had nearly been a full Jonin at the time of his rejection of his village, and had been a highly successful commander besides. He knew that if they stayed to fight, they would all die. So it was with a heavy heart that he intercepted her slash at the second fastest of their group.

"Run. Run, all of you, I will hold her off long enough for you to get away. Run now!" he roared as he sent her skidding away by shoving roughly, watching from the corner of his eyes as the remnants of his band hesitated only briefly before fleeing, knowing that they were outmatched and overwhelmed, each resolving deep in their hearts and minds that they would avenge their fallen teammates, and especially their leader.

The shinobi and kunoichi circled each other warily on the male's part, and with a cold sense of general uncaring on the female's part. He spoke then, "Why hunt us? We have bounties on our head, that is true, but they are small. You would not get much benefit from doing this." As he spoke, he made sure to keep from the pitfall less experienced ninja fell into when talking with their enemy, that to keep from not only inducing an actual conversation and dropping their guard, but having even the tiniest slip in focus, which generally resulted in a kunai between the ribs.

The kunoichi gave him a scathing look. "I am fully aware that you are stalling for time for your subordinates, but it's not necessary. Those four can go free, they will spread the news of a new assassin clan on the continent. You, on the other hand, will not. Your bounty is considerably more than the others, since you were bordering on A-rank when you left. There is no doubt you are of that rank at present. The wilds are uncompromising, and leading a band of renegade ninja even more so. The other bounties, while small individually, are much more combined, and those will go to feeding my village, but yours is mine." As she spoke, the former team leader's face transformed from one of shock to that of an incredible focus.

He replied, his tone as frosty as the mountains of the former Snow Country. "And what makes you think I will die to you?"

The kunoichi did not respond in words, but the shinobi had not been expecting a verbal response as he blocked five slashes and stabs in the span of a second, staying on the defensive as his enemy probed his defenses, and he measured her attack. Within ten seconds, they had gauged the other, and the tables turned as the shinobi went on the offensive, setting the kunoichi off balance slightly as she struggled to deal with the strikes that were as fast as hers, gritting her teeth in frustration as a swipe broke through her guard, slicing through the material of her shirt and exposing lightly tanned skin as she turned away, preventing the strike from drawing blood at the last second. The ronin continued his furious assault, knowing the woman's defence was not as strong as his, and was not up to par with her attack, his own teeth grinding as he rained blow after blow, a scant few slipping through. However, his opponent's flexibility allowed her to avoid blood being drawn each time, managing to just barely slip away each time.

His frustration mounting, he leaped back, fingers a blur as his sword sped at the kunoichi, launched from his hands in a move that shocked the woman, who hastily blocked the flying blade, sending it spinning off into the trees as she speedily leaped backwards, away from the inevitable elemental attack. She stopped, when after a few seconds, nothing happened. The shinobi grinned as his sword returned to his hands in a poof of smoke, then ran towards the kunoichi, who moved to block. The ronin seemed to strike harder now, with more confidence instead of the blazing vengeance as before. The assassin realized why he was so confident when one of the ninja's strikes inevitably slipped through her guard, and even as she turned away, she gasped as she felt a cut form on her side, between two ribs. Even as she jumped back, she had an inkling of what had occurred, but needed to get struck again to find out for sure.

The ronin had not allowed her more than an instant of respite, re-engaging with her effortlessly. Their blades clashed again and again, sparks flying as each stroke resulted in a sound like steel getting smashed together, which it was. This time, the kunoichi tried to go on the offensive as well, but was denied each time, being constantly shunted into defence. The ronin had gotten more confident, but was still wary, as the assassin had been too confident of her skills before to only be fairly good at kenjutsu and not any more.

Even so, he let himself grin as he watched this whisper quick backhand slide across his foe's chest diagonally, from right shoulder to left hip, the cloth rent by the blade itself, and the almost invisible blade of wind extending further cutting the assassin deeply.

She let out a shocked gasp, suspicions confirmed but in possibly the worst way possible. She had been dealt a grievous injury, which would normally be of no consequence, but was currently life threatening. Furthermore, not only were her movements going to be hampered, from pain and blood loss, but her opponent was obviously a skilled user of Wind Nature chakra, to be able to use the wind blade even on a non-chakra conducive blade. This would be a closer run battle than she thought, and not only that, but she would have to release her blade, even if merely to freeze her wound to keep the normal response from occurring.

She jumped backwards, startling the ronin as he was mid-stroke, and uttered a loud cry as she raised her blade into the air. "Sit upon the Frozen Heavens: Hyorinmaru!" The very blade of her sword itself seemed to vibrate as a thick mist billowed around the assassin, hiding her from the ronin's eyes.

As it cleared, his eyes widened, the ground for two feet around her was crackling with frost, a wing made entirely out of ice seemed to sprout from the assassin's back on her right side, and a line of ice covered her most serious wound, acting as a way to staunch the steady flow of blood. The very look of the sword itself seemed to have changed as well, the hilt changed to the color of gold, and the blade itself seeming to be made of ice, all from the sober leather wrapping and normal steely grey from before.

She pointed the blade at him, and softly intoned, "Sai." And a bolt of light hit the ronin, entirely immobilizing him before he had a chance to even twitch. He dropped to the ground, feeling as if someone had tied his wrists and ankles together, the sword falling from his hands.

The assassin sighed tiredly, the blood loss taking its toll as she slowly and cautiously walked over to the bound and impotent ronin. After checking that he had a pulse, she calmly lopped off his head.

[Chapter End]

I know you must be confused, but I'm sure you'll figure or find out what's happening soon. If you think you know, or just have comments in general, feel free to review!

We'll see the ramifications of Gaara falling so early to the Akatsuki, and our first real taste of Naruto's new power, as his battle with his former sensei and now squad captain was only a mere teaser in the next chapter!

Also, I now feel like the announcer for anime episodes. :D

And just another note, I hit nearly 2k words again with this chapter, not a lot of exposition, so expect a lot of talking, or well, screaming next chapter. Hopefully I'll get chapter lengths up.

Please tell me how I did with this one, and if you have any questions or helpful advice, please review!

And review anyways, especially if I'm doing a good job!


	4. Chapter 4

Here we go, Naruto challenging the Akatsuki, and we finally get to see just how strong he has gotten. A bit of a warning, he has a better relationship with the Kyubi than he did at this time in the manga, but not anywhere near the relationship at the time of the end of the manga.

Which is in line with the more serious Naruto, of course.

[Training ground 7, Konoha]

Jiraiya reacted with speed to Naruto's cry, biting his thumb and slamming his hand on the ground, summoning the Boss of Toads, Gamabunta. Kakashi, Sakura and Shizune were caught off guard, not expecting to be suddenly on the back of one of the most respected summons in Konoha. Tsunade, from long experience with the sensation with herself merely looked at Jiraiya in consternation and a demanding expression.

"Jiraiya, how can Naruto know that?" Her expression was stern. This was no longer a happy shishou, proud at the accomplishments of her student, and proud of Naruto as well. This was the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju. She did not have a trace of disbelief in her demeanor at Naruto's exclamation, not bothering with the thought that Naruto was lying, for she knew of the intense friendship and brotherhood between the two Jinchuriki.

Jiraiya looked over at Tsunade as he replied, before his gaze cut back to Naruto, who was taking deep breaths as the teen's face seemed to be rapidly transitioning from shock to anger, and from there straight to a towering rage. "I've told you of his mastery over seals. A year or so ago he devised a seal that would act as a long distance method of communication, and he has been modifying it since. Gaara has one, and the only reason he would call loudly enough for help that my seal would burn as well is if he was well and truly defeated, and the only ones who can do that are Kages, myself and yourself, Tsunade, Naruto, and lastly, the Akatsuki. No country is at war and all three of us are here, therefore it must be Akatsuki."

Sakura tentatively spoke up from the side, "But Jiraiya-sama, what can we possibly do?"

Before Jiraiya could respond, Naruto swung his top right sword from its sheathe, and then calmly intoned, "This." And disappeared.

Jiraiya frowned. "Well, there was no stopping the brat in any case, but I wish he took back-up. No matter, I'll be following on Bunta. I trust you, Kakashi, Sakura, and hopefully Gai's team will follow. We'll need the raw firepower. Knowing the kid's speed, we won't have to go to Suna, and can probably just track Naruto to where the Akatsuki team is."

Shizune looked confused. "But how will you track Naruto?"

Jiraiya guffawed. "Hahaha! That's a good one! How can we _not_ track Naruto by the ground shaking explosions? Besides that, he should be giving small pulses of chakra to the seal so I can track him. Well then, no time to waste, Kakashi, get Gai and his team, and make sure to bring Sakura, I'll be at the front gate."

Tsunade turned towards Sakura, giving her some last minute advice and a couple soldier pills as Kakashi dashed away. Shizune, however, continued to look confused. "Forgive me, Jiraiya-sama, but then why did you summon Gamabunta?"

The leader of the Toads cast a baleful eye upwards as he spoke in his rumblingly loud voice. "Yes Jiraiya, I'd like to know too."

At this, Jiraiya chuckled nervously. "Well, I had two reasons, one, to keep you lot from shouting questions at me, and second, to send him as support for Naruto. Considering the brat's speed, that won't be an issue, since Bunta simply won't be able to keep up with the speed of the fastest ninja alive. Instead Bunta, I thank you for your time, bye for now."

Tsunade gave Jiraiya an incredulous look as the Toad Boss grumbled something about useless sages before disappearing with a gigantic poof. "Fastest ninja alive? Certainly that's the Third Raikage, or Gai. Not Naruto."

Jiraiya chuckled as he, Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune landed on the ground. "Oh no, that's definitely Naruto, no one can compete with the speed boost his sword gives him. One of them is built purely for speed and power, after all. And that's the one he drew, you'll notice."

[Somewhere north of Konoha, Land of Fire]

Naruto dashed through the forest, Zangetsu's Shikai letting him sprint far faster than normal. Once he was certain he was beyond the watch of Konoha ninja, he took off, swiftly utilizing the Air-Walking technique to fly through the air. He knew that for a slow moving team, it took 3 days to reach Suna. But he was moving at full speed, and was mere instants away from activating Bankai.

Naruto sent a small pulse into the master seal on his neck, directing it to Gaara, cursing that his latest seal improvement hadn't been tested yet, and vowing to do so the instant he rescued his friend. He waited five long, long minutes for a response, and then when he finally received none, roared with a fury that sent birds fleeing form the trees for miles as his eyes gradually became red, his pupils taking on the distinctive cat like look that signified demonic chakra in his system.

"BANKAI!" Giving zero thought to staying hidden, now that he wished to expose himself anyways, he blasted his power as far as it would go, and as the massive cleaver in his hand transformed into a small but deadly tanto, he blurred forward, easily surpassing the speed he was moving at before tenfold.

The air seemed to stretch and then break before Naruto, a low boom sounding in the distance as the teen grinned darkly, the sonic boom heralding his approach as he used the trickle of chakra he felt from Gaara's seal as a locator, glad of his last improvement that allowed him to push chakra into the seal that would steadily pulse back out, acting as a chakra version of an echo locator.

[Konoha Gate, Konoha]

Jiraiya cast a baleful eye over his gathered team. Gai and Lee seemed somber, well, as somber as they could get, with only some small exclamations of youth. Neji seemed to be indulging in some light meditation, as the sage could feel the Hyuga's chakra settling in preparation of their mission. Tenten looked like she would rather not be here, a feeling that Sakura shared, apparently. Kakashi was counting his kunai, giving him occasional glances in case he gave the order to move out.

Jiraiya barked, "Alright, we've dilly dallied enough! For those who are unaware, or were given incomplete or not to your satisfaction commands, we are trailing Naruto Uzumaki. He in turn, is tracking down the Akatsuki team that were sent out to overpower and kidnap the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara. I trust you know why this is happening."

At the news of who was kidnapped, the teens gave a small gasp, as anyone capable of taking down a Kage was not someone they wanted to be sent in to combat. Gai and Kakashi's spines straightened as they dropped into their most serious moods, well aware that they were going to be backup for Jiraiya, and protection for the teens.

"Unfortunately, Kakashi and Naruto had a bit of a spar, and Kakashi has under normal chakra levels. We are there for unable to do anything other than wait for his chakra to restore, which is why I brought these bentos with me."

So saying, the Toad Sannin brought out enough bentos for all, setting them out as he swiftly broke his chopsticks and set into his meal. Kakashi and Gai hesitated for only a second before dropping to the ground as well, setting into their meals with gusto. The remains of the group however, gave the three adults looks of utter shock.

Jiraiya looked up. "What are you idiots waiting for? I command you as your team captain to eat! You need your strength for this, as we will be fighting against two S-rank enemies, both of them capable of going toe to toe with a Jinchuriki Kage and winning."

Chastened, and with the reason for the impromptu meal known, Lee, Neji, Sakura and Tenten started wolfing down the food as well.

[Konoha-Suna Border]

The speed Naruto moved at ate up the distance between him and his prey, as the vista beneath him switched from forest to grassland to desert, flying over the dunes at well over the speed of sound, the boom from the broken sound barrier a continuous thunder that accompanied him.

Naruto pushed, and he felt the cone of air around him slim as his speed doubled, Tensa Zangetsu allowing him to travel at speeds well beyond that of any other ninja, save the Raikages and the Fourth Hokage.

He felt the pulse of his echo of chakra close by as he dropped abruptly out of sonic speed, tumbling into a sand dune as the shock sent him off course. As he burst form the other side of the dune, covered in sand but no less furious, he let Bankai fade as he continued his dash, having easily eaten up more than half the distance.

Naruto continued his run, taking a small break to take a sip of water, then swiftly taking off again, utilizing the Air Walking technique again to fly faster than he could run. He felt two chakra signatures on the farthest edge of his perception, dropping out of Shikai as well in response as he closed the distance, grinning again as he kept up his run.

Within ten minutes, he sheathed Zangetsu again, pulling out Zabimaru and Hyorinmaru as he crept closer, seeing the two unmistakable cloaks in the distance, beyond the tree line for a quick assassination. He cursed within the privacy of his own head, creeping as close as he could to the two oddly matched figures.

One seemed to have an incredibly bad hunchback, or it was simply something else. Sasori, most likely, due to the puppet master rumor He and Jiraiya had heard of within the Akatsuki ranks. And there was a blond ninja on top of a weird flying creature, that didn't look summoned and looked like it was made from some white substance.

If the white stuff was clay, that would make the other of the duo Deidara. Naruto cursed again. Two long range specialists. Considering the lengths such people would go to keep others away, he knew he was in for a fight. Naruto refined his chakra, then using the latent speed boost from Zangetsu, he blurred away, swiftly lopping off the head of the bird, which due to the chakra pulses had to contain Gaara, and carried it off into the woods.

After leaving a clone or two with the creepy looking head to dig Gaara out and get him away from the soon to be warzone, Naruto stepped out in front of the confused looking Akatsuki team.

The teen growled at the duo. "You took down the 1. Now you have to fight the 9." Chakra shone as it swirled around his body, clothes rippling as Naruto's chakra pressure skyrocketed, the amused expression of the two S-rank ninjas changing to shock and weariness as they realized it wasn't some snot-nosed brat that challenged them, but a fellow Kage-class ninja.

Deidara tried to look unimpressed and failed, commenting from his now beheaded steed, "Eh, Sasori-dana, you think Leader will be mad if we brought in the Inhibit and the Kyubi at once, un?" The clay expert's hands went into the small pouches on his waist, hands busy doing their thing.

The hunched over figure seemed to not react as over a dozen needles shot at the teen. "No, I can't imagine that would displease anyone, least of all Leader. You have plenty of clay, right?"

Naruto's expression became thunderous as his swords sang through the air deflecting the projectiles with contemptuous ease. His voice shook, not with fear, as the two adults assumed, but with anger as he responded, "No, you're not taking any one. Not me, not Gaara. No. Instead, I'm going to kill both of you. Right here, right now." As he finished his sentence, Naruto dashed towards the two cloaked villains, swords poised to deliver scything death.

He had to swerve away again as a cloud of needles shot at him followed by some sort of miniature bird made of clay. Naruto slashed at the clay bird with Zabimaru, then coughed as the sword was cloaked by a small explosion. He resolved to only use Hyorinmaru against the explosives as he pondered how to separate the two, seeing that they appeared to be well matched.

However, they were both long range fighters, whereas Naruto had been trained to the point where he was a universal fighter, though he preferred mid and short range combat, due to most of his attacks falling in that range. Therefore, as he raised his hand and again released the five elemental dragons, he rapidly started planning.

Just as Naruto had formed the bare basics of a plan, namely, to resort to Kyubi chakra to separate the duo, he heard laughter. An altogether familiar laughter. He looked past the Akatsuki duo, into the trees, as another pair of Akatsuki emerged, and his heart sank.

Itachi stepped into the small clearing, a chortling Kisame only a half-step behind him. He assessed the situation. Kyubi container with twin swords. Another Akatsuki pair, with no sight of their charge. Any of the four S-rank shinobi would have been more than sufficient to the task of capturing the young Jinchuriki two and a half years ago. Now, after that time period in the sole company of one of the Legendary Sannin, Itachi held no notions that he had any idea what the teen had learned. Judging by the young ninja's stance, Naruto had obviously learned something of sword combat, multiple blade styles by the look of things.

But Itachi never assumed. Most ninja would see Naruto with two blades and assume that if they removed one from him, he would be far less dangerous. Itachi, was not most ninjas. He had not gotten as strong as he had by underestimating foes that could be nothing less than lethal no matter how old they were. He mused, for a brief fraction of a second, that being around ninjas that were known for their ability to challenge whole villages in a group, and being part of an organization that had made its' mission to hunt down nine walking natural disasters had…skewed his sense of what level a foe needed to be at to prove a threat.

Kisame, however, had not wasted a second in sizing up his more grown up opponent, and liked what he saw. The teen held the swords like a practiced fighter. He didn't have the look of a veteran, but that particular word utterly described the boy's mentor. There was no way he was facing a normal swordsman, the likes of which grew in the Hidden Villages. No, the Kyubi Jinchuriki would be at the highest level one could reach in two and a half years, which would be formidable indeed if he had other abilities to back that up.

Most regarded Kisame as a stupid, if insanely powerful ninja. He wasn't on par with Itachi, but then again, most likely only Leader had the smarts to go toe to toe with Itachi, and Itachi would probably still win. Kisame held the much younger Uchiha in the highest regard. And despite how much he respected the brat's teacher, the Nine-Tail's container faced a hopeless battle against four S-rank ninjas.

Deidara and Sasori seemed surprised at the sight of their two co-workers, but seemed to become even more relaxed as Naruto watched. He couldn't blame them. One on one, he was confident he could take down all of them except for Itachi easily, though perhaps it would take longer against the chakra sapping sword, he amended mentally. Four on one? He'd have to really pull out all the stops, but he was still incredibly reluctant to use Bankai. But if it meant his life, he would.

"Ne, Sasori-dana, how high do you think the Jinchuriki's chances of survival are?" The question was lazily delivered, and the only reply was a grunt from the hunched over figure.

Itachi frowned. His head snapped up, followed only a second later by Kisame's as both of them rapidly put distance between them and the spot they were occupying only moments before.

As Deidara and Sasori turned to give them incredulous looks, the ground detonated underneath the two remained Akatsuki members.

[Konoha Outskirts, Land of Fire]

The team made a brisk pace as they sprinted across the landscape, unerringly pointed in Naruto's direction by Jiraiya. The group had been augmented by Temari, who had heard of the news of Gaara's capture and demanded to be allowed to accompany them. They had been running for less than half an hour when Jiraiya called a halt.

"What is it, Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi queried the Sannin, his own face growing worried as the Sannin's paled drastically. The other group members, having not personally seen he prowess of the Sannin in battle save for Gai, only looked about uncertainly, with only Neji feeling a growing sense of discomfort. He had never seen Gai look so serious, or Kakashi as worried as he was right now. The two Jonin were always either beyond exuberant or unflappable. To see them looking as frightened as children made his own sense of panic begin to overwhelm his iron control. He realized that a group made up of Jonin, Chunin, and one Sannin was unlikely to be attacked, yet with Jiraiya's face coming closer and closer to a Geisha's, and not in the way the Toad Sannin would have preferred, Neji instead chose to try and control his sudden fear.

"Naruto is no longer facing merely Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara, formerly of the Earth Village. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki have appeared from Kami knows where. That puts him alone against four S-rank ninjas. I would have bet all my money he can solidly trounce the first two, but with the likes of Itachi and Kisame there, I am not so certain. Okay, everyone gather round for a bit."

As Jiraiya delivered his news, Gai and Kakashi seemed to stiffen, as both had had an encounter with the newer pair of ninjas. One that had left Kakashi bedridden for weeks after being on the wrong side of a single attack from Itachi. Intellectually, they were both S-rank ninjas themselves. But just as there was a vast gulf in power between them and Jiraiya, so was there a gulf between them and Itachi and Kisame. Gai remembered vaguely that the sight of Jiraiya had caused the two rouge ninjas to flee, which further increased his respect for the Sannin, and deepened his worry for Naruto.

Neji and Temari, being the most capable of understanding the new threat amongst the younger ninjas, didn't truly grasp the significance. They had never fought the two shinobi, but there was no doubting that it was well known that no Hunter Nin had been sent after Itachi, and that anyone who could elicit the sort of reaction from these three war veterans instantly made them a threat beyond what they were capable of dealing with.

Sakura, Lee and Tenten just gaped, trying and failing to grasp the magnitude of what they were facing. They had thought that they would be mere support for the true fighters, those being Jiraiya, Gai and Kakashi, as well as medical support, but had no real concept of the sort of situation they had been flung into. That they were running alongside three S-rank shinobi in order to provide back-up for a fourth against two enemy S-ranks seemed plausible. But not four S-rank enemies.

The group meekly surrounded Jiraiya as the eldest among them looked at each of them in turn. Jiraiya seemed to be deep in thought, weighing the pros and cons in his mind. He knew, theoretically, that if Naruto went all out, using all three of his mastered Bankais, one Shikai, and the Kyubi, he would win. If from sheer attrition if from nothing else. The only one of that group that would be able to last as long as Naruto in a battle of stamina would be Kisame, and the master apprentice pair had already conducted tests to see if Kisame's sword could absorb reiatsu attacks, which it couldn't, leaving the man wide open against three Bankais.

Jiraiya finally nodded to himself, then addressed the group. "Kakashi, summon and leave one of your dogs with this group. Obviously the fastest. I realize Pakkun is cute, but we don't have time for him to slowly lead the relief team. You, Kakashi, Gai and I will race ahead to Naruto. Actually, summon your two fastest. Tenten, Lee, you two will be running back to Konoha, full speed, in order to get a full ANBU team. Tell them that I, Jiraiya, requested Code S to be carried out. That allows the two of you to lead, what? Ten full ANBU squads to us. Carry the dog on your way there.

"Sakura, Neji and Temari, you three will be following us at your own forced march pace with the second dog, tracking Kakashi, as will the first dog on the way back. As a warning, if you see building sized toads and housing complex sized explosions, stay well clear. Some of the strongest ninjas are about to clash."

As Jiraiya was speaking, Kakashi had already summoned his full team of ninken. He dismissed all but the two fastest, handed the lighter of the two to Lee, and instructed his dogs to track his scent and lead their respective teams to him, and then the eldest three ninja rocketed off, shocking the younger ninja with their speed. The remainder nodded to one another, then Lee and Tenten took off the way they came, and Neji, Sakura and Temari followed after the older ninjas, albeit at a greatly reduced pace.

[Some clearing, Konoha-Suna border]

As the dust cleared, Naruto saw a small, red-haired figure rising from the shattered remains of the hunch-backed puppet. He then flashed away as three clay birds detonated at head height.

"Hiruko…was my favorite puppet…he is hard to construct…you will pay dearly for this, Jinchuriki." Sasori's face was covered, but the malevolence of his voice was unmasked as he gazed about, trying to catch sight of the blond haired teen. He then had to jump more than 50 feet to the side as said teen's right foot came down, seemingly with all the force of Tsunade's fists, cratered the ground and creating another small explosion, accompanied by a tremor.

This time, as the dust cleared, the four Akatsuki members could see the young shinobi's face clearly. His eyes seemed to have become blood red, the irises slit like a cat's, and his hair seemed to spike up even more, becoming more animalistic.

"Surrender, Naruto-kun. You cannot hope to defeat all four of us at once." Itachi called out to the young man.

"You all seem to have forgotten something." Naruto's breath was harsh, the air becoming wild with unrestrained fury as his enemies felt his Killing Intent, magnified by the Kyubi's crash upon them, causing Deidara's knees to buckle slightly, and the rest to grimace or frown.

"I am not the fourteen year old boy you once surveyed. I am sixteen, and while it doesn't make too much of a difference to you, you now face a fully-fledged S-rank shinobi. Furthermore. I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" Naruto's last sentence was roared as the presence of Kyubi's chakra skyrocketed, the teen's form seeming to glow red as the ground cratered under his feet.

His movements, which up until now had been mildly difficult for Itachi to track with his normal fully developed Sharingan, became incomprehensible to the Uchiha's great shock, such was his speed. Consequently, Itachi was utterly unprepared when a blow smacked into his chest, sending him crashing away into the trees with a gasp.

Kisame, used to tracking the movements of opponents far more nimble than himself, but not with the raw speed the Jinchuriki was displaying, was also caught flat-footed when a kick slammed out of figurative nowhere into the swordsman's back, throwing him clear across the clearing and into the trees opposite.

Sasori had started unsealing his ultimate single puppet, knowing that an army against a single berserker ninja would give no benefit. He too, was unprepared when a gigantic fire dragon half the size of the clearing engulfed him and his finest creation.

Deidara had seen his compatriots fly off into the forest or be engulfed from relative safety. He had created a flying bird the instant he felt the Kyubi Jinchuriki's Killing Intent, or Ki, turn into something more resembling the beast inside him than any normal ninja.

He too, was not safe from Naruto's rage. But as Itachi had noted earlier, it never pays to be complacent, least of all in the ninja world. However, just as Deidara had made an error, assuming Naruto to be incapable of moving into and fighting in the sky, so had Itachi. He had automatically assumed a man who unsheathed a pair of swords intended to use them.

Naruto cast a baleful eye upwards, knowing that the type of ninja that Deidara was, he would not come down from his lofty perch until he had observed everything. Or at least until he thought he had observed everything. The teen grinned savagely as he thought that there was no real need to make such observations in a position of comfort, and promptly sent a number of elemental dragons out of his fingers at the swiftly retreating figure.

He turned his head down to the now fully revealed, as a puppet, of all things, Akatsuki member. "Now, Sasori, I kill you."

As his hand went through Sasori's heart container, he thought it was awfully idiotic for such an intelligent ninja to clearly label his only organic organ as heart, and not expect all and sundry to take advantage of a weak spot like that.

Removing his hand, Naruto watched dispassionately as the now fully dead Akatsuki member collapsed, taken down in a matter of less than a second, his grand puppet's scroll of whatever he had been muttering about burned to ashes alongside the now deceased S-rank ninja's clothing.

Naruto mused that using Kyubi's chakra, even in this low intensity state that was about half way between the one he had initially used on Sasuke in the Valley of the End, and against Neji in the Chunin Finals, dulled his emotions quite a bit. Unless they were rage.

He looked upwards once again, and decided the aerial ninja was having an altogether too good of a time, swooping and barely dodging around the half dozen dragons still left. He had made them all fire, so they would detonate and hopefully consume or at least hurt some of the ninja. Alas, it was not to be, Naruto thought, as he made a water dragon and soared upwards on its back, making it look like his standard five dragon formation, further lulling Deidara into the illusion that he could not fly.

[End Chapter]

I had to end it there, because this chapter got frighteningly long. A large cliffhanger, and I didn't get to add the Naruto/Kyubi conversation as I had planned, but oh well.

But yes, this is Naruto. If you're screaming OP, that's kinda invalid, since well, Naruto goes on to fight with someone who birthed the guy who made the freakin' Moon, so OP is not very prevalent in Naruto.

Plus, he has only really used Kyubi power thus far, at least against the Akatsuki. His base speed is incredibly high, which is only augmented by all the different power-ups he has and will gain.

So now we know the names of three out of four of Naruto's swords. Well, you guys know ¾, I know all of them, haha! Any guesses as to the last sword's identity? I'll give you a hint, there's a bit of a theme to the ones I picked.

So that wraps up this chapter, please review!

Also, also please sign in if you do have an account, I can't reply to guests, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Yay a new chapter!

Naruto puts the beat down on more Akatsuki members!

Explosions! Dragons! Excitement!

[Some random clearing, Konoha-Suna Border]

Naruto grinned malevolently as he rode on top of the water dragon. He made a mental note to ride on top of earth dragons after this, as his clothes were getting incredibly soggy. Within a few seconds, he could see Deidara, and leaped off of the dragon, using the Air-walking ability to change direction mid fall to land on top of the man's bird-thing.

"Rasengan!" The attack smashed into an utterly befuddled Deidara, crushing his ribcage and pulping his internal organs, almost instantly killing the man. The sheer force of the Kyubi enhanced attack, threw the nukenin from the clay bird, Naruto jumping after him in order to behead him, since he wanted to take no chances. The Biju's chakra, while dulling Naruto's emotions, did not blunt his logic, and so the teen wasted no time in decapitating Deidara, and then using Shunpo to crash into the ground.

"Gaki!" Kisame roared as he crashed out of the woods, sword whirling through the air. Naruto snarled wordlessly as he met the blow head on, his twin blades stopping the much larger sword dead. The two ninja barely budged as they fought to overcome the other through sheer brute force, neither making any headway.

Naruto soon tired of his progress, and with a shout drew on more of Kyubi's chakra, the fox happily providing it, even if only to avoid being captured, the force of which blew Kisame away. The man grimaced, while Samehada was eating the Kyubi's chakra, the teen wasn't letting it fill the air like he had as a boy, keeping it tightly reined in so he could use it and everyone could feel its presence, but the shark sword couldn't eat it.

"Die!" Naruto screamed, riving both swords forwards, before abruptly disappearing, re-appearing several feet away, a blast of lightning already jumping from his hands. "Byakurai!"

Kisame choked as the bolt seared straight through his left lung, the short distance and unexpectedness of the attack giving him no time to react. He had expected and assumed the Jinchuriki to attack with his swords, not with Jutsu. He stared at the Kyubi brat balefully as his chakra presence seemed to explode. He normally kept it held down when he fought someone seriously, but this was no longer a serious match, this was a fight for his life.

Naruto merely bared his teeth menacingly as he matched the presence of the swordsman formerly from Kiri, the ground seeming to shake and crack under the two behemoth's feet. The two of them met again, the ground catering as they traded lightning fast blows. However, no matter how much Kisame tried, he found he could not break the Jinchuriki's defenses, and Naruto realized his swordsmanship was not up to the task of breaking the guard of a true master's.

Naruto eventually gave up a straight battle of force, and decided to reveal one of his many trump cards. "Sit upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyorinmaru!" The very air seemed to pulse and cool thirty degrees as a shroud of mist covered the battle field. Kisame waved his sword about, trying to clear it, but to no avail.

He hear another shout within the mist, "Howl, Zabimaru!" and the mist was blown away, Naruto as the center of the sudden breeze. Kisame, a former member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, gawked as he stared at the sudden appearance change of the two swords Naruto had been holding. Whereas one seemed to have only undergone a cosmetic change, turning from steel grey to resembling an icicle in sword form, the other had gone from a simple katana to a huge cleaver with jagged spikes at right angles to the rest of the sword.

[Somewhere in Fire Country, Fire Country]

Jiraiya cursed as he dodged a tree, feeling nothing but rage from the seal on his neck. It was a cold rage, but he knew that Naruto was pulling on the Kyubi's chakra, and their current relationship, while not one of hatred, was far from cordial. He just hoped the beast of chakra didn't make a bid for freedom with monsters like Itachi and Kisame around.

"Problem, Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi queried from behind him, Gai next to him and listening attentively. Both Jonin were well aware they would be secondary to the likes of the Sannin and Naruto in this battle, but at least they weren't cannon fodder like the so-called "reinforcements".

"Not as such, but with Naruto using the Kyubi's chakra I can't tell what his situation is anymore, the backwash from it drowns out his own signals. So we have no idea what the situation is beyond what I knew originally. Then again" Jiraiya mused, "I've operated on less information during the wars."

Kakashi and Gai exchanged glances. Neither of them had been very old during the Third Shinobi War, and both would have whole-heartedly liked to entirely forget about their experiences during it. But both Jonin knew, that without a doubt, bad Intel was worse than no Intel. So they were completely fine with knowing that Naruto was up against four S-rank ninjas, well, not completely, since they would most likely be forced to fight one apiece, and that would be far from pleasant, but both realized the risks and knew they easily tied for third strongest ninja in the village, after the two Sannin and the now much more improved Naruto. They were honor-bound to fight against their student's and friend's student's opponents.

"Well, there's no hope but to keep going, really. I just hope we don't start feeling tremors. The last thing we need is for Naruto to go Four-Tails trying to take those four down." Jiraiya's grim voice snapped the two younger ninja out of their daze, both worried.

"Why would that be a bad situation?" Jiraiya glanced at Gai as the man asked the question, and then turned back as he responded. "Because in that state Naruto has no control, it's only the Kyubi. The best thing so far is that due to the relationship between the two being closer to a working one, Naruto can at least impart some sort of vague directive the Nine-tails before his body is taken over, but even then the devastation approaches what Tsunade, Orochimaru and I are capable of. Not to mention that the Kyubi would gleefully kill the three of us should we arrive too soon."

The two Jonin again looked at each other, then the three lapsed back into silence as the sped onwards.

[Some forest next to some clearing, Konoha-Suna border]

Itachi let out a choked groan as he sat up from the ruins of a tree he was partially sitting in. As he awkwardly stood up he idly wondered how forests even managed to survive and exist in the middle of battles that redefined maps. Then he shook the odd thought away and started striding back to the clearing, Mangekyou Sharingan spinning in both eyes. He glumly thought that even his eyes wouldn't give him as much of an advantage as they normally did, since for some reason or another Naruto moved too quickly to be tracked.

Then again, as he got closer to the sounds of earth-shaking roars, he remembered that he had never been able to follow the movements of the Fourth Hokage either. Itachi shook his head and paused, both eyes widening as he turned over his latest thoughts and how they had become rambling. Had he suffered some sort of head injury?

Itachi quickly felt at his head, and after flushing his entire body with low-level healing chakra, decided that no, he must have just been slightly out of it.

Any further thought was wiped out when a scream burst from the clearing, alongside a shockwave that blasted the only recently sensate ninja away and back into unconsciousness.

[Some clearing, Konoha-Suna border]

Naruto gazed at Kisame, both of his irises a bright, blood red, pupils thin and cat-like. The chakra pressure and killing intent he currently exuded would have killed most Chunin and paralyzed Jonin. The man he stared at, however, merely blinked and brought his own chakra pressure to bear, matching the Jinchuriki's presence. Kisame had no need to match the teen for killing intent, seeing no point in it.

Naruto roared, and a pulse of chakra exploded from him as the crater the teen stood in deepened and the three tails of pure, malevolent chakra behind him swayed in an invisible breeze. Kisame merely grunted as he held an arm up, blocking most of the wind and dust kicked up by the roar.

That was when Naruto attacked. The blow was so powerful it sent Kisame careening through the forest, the Konoha ninja easily keeping pace as he raced forwards on all fours, then kicked the former Kiri ninja back into the clearing. Kisame coughed up a bit of blood as he shakily got to his feet in the middle of the destroyed clearing. As he groggily looked around he decided that not only did this look like the perfect location for a lake, but that he wanted to take control of the battle for once.

Kisame sucked in a huge breath, molding enough chakra in one attack to kill several Jonin, and exhaled, metric tons of water gushing out, creating a pond, and then a lake, and then a small sea in seconds. He kept the water in a huge bubble, with him on top. Kisame looked about for the Jinchuriki as Samehada healed his injuries.

Kisame's search was short lived, as just as the hole in his left lung sealed up, another was opened in his right. He gasped as five more of those piercing beams shot through him, leaving his body with a number of holes too many. The technique under him collapsed, a huge wave of water flooding in all directions as the hold Kisame held on is dissolved.

Naruto swung Zabimaru from a great distance, and watched with glee as Kisame's head seemed to pop from his shoulders as the vastly elongated blade sheared through the S-rank ninja's neck. The teen fell to his knees as the toll of using Kyubi's chakra for so long hit, gasping for breath as the chakra cloak dissipated. He directed a 'Thanks, Kyubi', inwards before unsteadily getting to his feet, trudging in the direction of Kisame.

Naruto was therefore taken entirely by surprise when Samehada was thrust into his side, the shark scales tearing into his flesh as Kisame bared his fangs and screamed slightly hysterically as he flung the grievously injured teen to the side.

Naruto coughed up blood, feeling Kyubi's chakra working on his injuries as he stared up at the former Mist ninja. "How did you survive?" he asked, feeling drained from over-usage of the tailed beast's chakra.

Kisame guffawed. "Brat do you think you're the only ninja to know a clone technique and a substitution technique?" Kisame grinned as he stared down at the helpless looking teen. "A water clone and a substitution, and whoops! Looks like I'm ba-"

Kisame could utter no further words as the 'helpless' ninja poofed into smoke. And a sword magically appeared in his throat. Naruto smirked on the other end of the blade, the safer end, as he clutched his heavily injured side and slid the blade free of his opponent's neck, falling to his knees in the same motion.

Naruto vaguely hoped that Itachi would choose to not appear, but at that precise moment he heard an unmistakable voice call to him across the clearing.

[Forests nearby the Konoha-Suna border]

Jiraiya panted as he, Kakashi and Gai rested, all three of them thoroughly worn out from over an hour's worth of hard running. Hard for them being deadly to most other ninjas, of course. Jiraiya quietly remarked to himself, within his own head, that the true could be said of the situation they found themselves in. Most ninja would turn tail and flee, or try to, if they caught sight of monsters the likes of Itachi or Kisame. But nope, he, Gai and Kakashi were determinedly running towards them, if only to try and save his godson. Jiraiya was fairly certain he could take down Itachi, and he knew that even if it came to a battle of attrition between himself and Kisame, he would win.

But Naruto, was still mostly untested. Jiraiya wished he could look the two Jonin in the eye and say that without a doubt his godson would take down the four S-rank ninja. But he was highly uncertain that Naruto could do so, or at least for two out of the three he was uncertain. Jiraiya dismissed Deidara and Sasori, both were light weights in the S-rank game. They were both incredibly dangerous, but only if you weren't at a solid S-rank level. He doubted that Kakashi or Gai would have trouble with them. But then he re-evaluated. Most likely, Kakashi and Gai were on the same level, and would have trouble. Oh well, Naruto certainly wasn't, and on a raw power scale Jiraiya was honestly certain the boy was a match for Jiraiya's sensei, the Third Hokage.

He decided there was no more use in worrying about Naruto, but couldn't quite shake the pit of fear entirely.

[Some Clearing/Crater, Konoha-Suna border]

"Well done, Naruto-kun. You've killed three of us."

As Itachi walked on top of the small pond towards him, Naruto just stared at him tiredly. He had no energy left to fight. Both Hyorinmaru and Zabimaru had reverted to their sealed forms at some point during the fight with Kisame, and he could feel them slumbering in his mind. The only options he had left were to unseal his other two swords, which he didn't feel like he had to power to do so at that point, or to call on enough of Kyubi's chakra to go into Four Tails mode and obliterate Itachi all at once.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I will be capturing you now."

Itachi dashed forwards, grabbing Naruto by the throat and slamming him into a tree, using the reflexive jerk of Naruto's head to unleash his Mangekyou.

Naruto gasped, Itachi's eye spinning and he heard, as if from a long distance away, Itachi's voice.

"Tsukuyomi!"

And everything went black.

[End Chapter]

Shorter chapter this time, but I love cliffhangers!

And this one is evil! :D

We'll get some good clues on what Naruto's last sword is, and you'll probably be able to tell next chapter, haha.

If you haven't already, that is.

Rate and Review please!


	6. Chapter 6

Yay a new chapter! My internet is down so this is what I'm doing.

[Forests nearby the Konoha-Suna Border]

Jiraiya gasped as he felt all sensation from the seal on his neck fade for a brief instant, and then return, immediately overshadowed by a gigantic swell of the Kyubi's chakra that left him so off balance Gai and Kakashi had to catch him before he crashed into a tree. Just as the two Jonin were about to question the older ninja, they felt a tremor in the ground, and far away they could see what must have been a truly gigantic explosion, and the feel of deadly chakra that they had last felt 15 years ago.

Jiraiya was pale as he stared at the huge smoke cloud, left in the wake of the explosion. The three ninja tensed as they saw a blurred edge of air, and Jiraiya had enough time to shout, "Brace yourselves!" and anchor himself to the tree before the shockwave hit them, nearly blasting the trio right off of the sturdy, and now bent branch.

"Oh Kami-sama no, Naruto went Four Tails." Jiraiya breathed out. He looked wildly at the two Jonin, before gripping each of their shoulders tightly, commanding them, "Listen to me, this is no longer a S-rank battle, this is Kage-class, essentially Biju class, you two _must_ head off the two relief teams, I am the only one in the village, besides Tsunade, capable of entering these type of battles. And well, Naruto, but he's currently lost in the Kyubi's hate and anger, and I can't draw him out of that while fighting S-rank ninjas and worrying about a few dozen lower ranked ninja. Run. _Go._ Do not let the others anywhere remotely close to this type of battle. Stay about a mile further away than this, I will send a toad to tell you when the coast is clear."

Jiraiya stepped back, and Kakashi and Gai, after exchanging a brief set of looks, hastily saluted and leaped away, both of their forms rippling slightly as each activated the First Gate in order to replenish their energy stores. Jiraiya watched them bound away, and nodded tightly to himself once, and then turned, drawing on a miniscule sliver of Natural energy to replenish his own chakra, and popping a soldier pill before running full pace onwards.

He had been going at half pace for the benefit of the two Jonin, and didn't really want to make them feel guilty for not being fast enough, when he had trained himself to the utmost alongside Naruto. Jiraiya didn't feel arrogant in claiming the spot of third fastest ninja, second only to Naruto and A, the Third Raikage.

He just hoped he would be fast enough to save a rampaging Naruto from the Akatsuki.

[One minute earlier, Naruto's mind]

Naruto gasped as he felt himself strapped to a cross, spread eagled, hands and legs bound. He could make out only a few, small things in the gloom, one of which was Itachi, who seemed very odd and deadly looking in the blood red moonlight. 'Red moonlight?' He looked up as he thought, and blanched at the blood red moon, the night sky entirely black.

He looked back down, shouting at Itachi, reverting to old, familiar habits in his terror, knowing from Jiraiya's description that in a few short moments Itachi would begin his mind breaking process. "Oi! Itachi you bastard! What the hell are you doing?"

Itachi seemed singularly unimpressed by Naruto's rage.

"This may be your mind, Naruto-kun, but I rule the Tsukuyomi. My Jutsu, my rules. You will spend 72 hours in this realm. And each second will feel like an hour. Prepare yourself, Naruto-kun, it is futile to-"

Whatever else Itachi was going to say, was cut off, as even Naruto slumped and stopped struggling, he heard an odd, low groaning noise, followed by a creeping sensation that a gigantic predator was watching him.

Naruto grinned. 'Finally decided to wake up, eh?' He looked at Itachi, watching the ninja transition from calm and aloof to wary and watchful. Itachi actually jumped a little, and the entire top of the Genjutsu, the whole sky, seemed to suddenly be pulled away, replaced by a gigantic oval of burning red fire.

"What is this, Naruto-kun? The Kyubi cannot enter this realm." Itachi was no longer calm, though he was not yet panicked. For someone without a Sharingan to actually _break_ his Tsukuyomi, that would be unthinkable.

"No, he probably can't. But see, the thing is, Itachi, the Kyubi isn't the only thing in my head." Naruto smiled widely, and in the flickering, orange-red light, to Itachi the smile looked wholly sinister. As Naruto finished his sentence, the burning oval suddenly split apart.

Itachi screamed.

[Some Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Itachi slumped as he backed away from Naruto, the teen collapsing onto the ground, an odd sort of cackling coming from his throat before Naruto's head jerked up inhumanly quickly, eyes entirely red, and no pupil present.

"Goodbye, Itachi." The voice said, and Itachi could not believe that voice was Naruto's as it was bass, deep and rumbling, and full of the sort of insane cackle Hidan would sometimes make. The end of the sentence was punctuated by an entirely sinister and creepy giggle, and Itachi shuddered, feeling that not even Orochimaru's laugh could compare.

Itachi had to leap back as the air seemed to swell with the Kyubi's chakra, the air tasting of blood and death as Naruto's form was completely covered in the miasma of death, four tails whipping through the air.

The Uchiha crouched, watching the storm of chakra swirl around the teen, and then his eyes widened and he was leaping away, trying desperately to escape what he knew, what his Sharingan predicted would come. He tripped, falling to his knees even as he kept trying to stay even slightly ahead of the monstrously large explosion behind him, the very air seeming to catch on fire around Itachi as the ground shook beneath his feet, and it seemed like the day, 15 years in the past, when he was just 7 years old and had passed out from the sheer chakra _presence_ of the Kyubi, more than ten miles away.

And its malice? Well, Itachi could handle that now, turning and trying to catch his breath. Having the Tsukuyomi _broken_ like that had wreaked havoc on his vision, which now swam, but he suspected that was more due to the huge detonation of chakra behind him more than anything else. Itachi gazed down at the new crater blankly, hardly able to believe that Naruto with only _four_ tails could unleash such devastation. Itachi sent a quick prayer to Kami-same for the fact that Pain-sama would most likely take on the role of bringing in the Kyubi, now that Itachi had had his partner killed before his very eyes.

The Kyubi gazed at the puny human, a highly creepy and inhuman grin on his warped face. He was borrowing Naruto's body for the moment, the brat had exhausted himself carelessly using huge portions of his chakra trying to run to Gaara. And then the Gaki had further tired himself uselessly using his weaker pair of swords. This left only two options, Naruto burn himself out using this last sword and somehow try to evade the S-rank genocidal ninja he faced, or, having the Kyubi take over, stressing Naruto's body further, but at least not taxing his chakra any more.

Kyubi twitched as he felt the chakra of his container's sensei rocketing closer. He knew he would have to take down Itachi quickly, before the old ninja returned control to Naruto. Naruto's puppeted body glowed momentarily, his eyes burning brighter, bright white in the middle of red and black as his mouth opened wide, wider than any human would open their jaws, unhinging and suddenly, a large ball of air sped in Itachi's direction.

"Shit." Itachi murmured, before utilizing the Shunshin to simply avoid the attack. He contemplated how he could possibly defeat Naruto's possessed form, and decided there was no real away to do it. Tsukuyomi wouldn't work at all on a Biju, he could probably just regenerate from the damage Amaterasu would do, Izanagi and Izanami would be of no help, and Susanoo would be of no help either, draining him of chakra too quickly, and his endgame Sword of Toksuta wasn't meant of this type of capture mission, having a very final sealing process.

Naruto's body limply moved, before suddenly tensing and leaping away, running on all fours towards the caught off-guard Uchiha. Itachi raised his hands to block, feeling the blow cracking his reinforced limbs and throwing him bodily away.

Itachi gasped as he watched the Kyubi start the process of making a Bijudama. There was no _way_ he would be caught in that type of blast. That would kill him as surely as a knife through the ribs. Itachi started running, as fast as he could to get away from the attack.

He did not run far enough by the time the ball had caught up with him. Itachi watched the almost beam of assured death approach him almost in slow motion, Mangekyou Sharingan eyes spinning wildly as he calculated his chances of survival. He only had one option left.

[Close to the crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Jiraiya rocked back and forth on his heels, feeling the similar buildup and release of energy that preceded and accompanied the charging and firing of a Bijudama, the ground shaking enough to indicate the Kyubi had released it close to the ground and not higher up, where the shockwaves of the attack's passage wouldn't carve a trench into the ground. He watched, as far in the distance, the sky seemed to light up, the Bijudama exploding and no doubt at least bringing severe harm to the teen's opponents. Come to think of it, he couldn't feel anyone's chakra in the vicinity besides his own, Itachi's and the Kyubi's, which was currently drowning out Naruto's. Did that mean that Naruto had already disposed of or incapacitated three of the attacking team? If so, he was beyond proud of his student. If not, well, at least they wouldn't have to worry about Itachi anymore.

As the smoke cleared, Jiraiya cursed himself, knowing that he had jinxed the results of the battle, as Itachi Uchiha was kneeling in an incredibly large crater, but he was still alive in the wake of a Bijudama. Jiraiya had watched Kushina use Bijudama's all the way up to Three Tails. He didn't want to imagine how powerful a Four Tail one was, and for Itachi to survive that…Well, this would be a battle of Kages, as he had said to Kakashi and Gai.

[Large Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Itachi didn't want to think about how much his body hurt. His eyes seemed to be crying blood without pause, because twice now in the same battle he had used a Mangekyou technique and had the same technique shattered within the same second of its use. His chakra was at the lowest it could be without him being actually dead, every muscle ached and his arms felt suspiciously like they were at least fractured, if not broken. He shifted, and from the twinge of pain judged that they were fractured. That wasn't a whole lot better than broken, however, in his state. He had maybe enough chakra to pull off a C-ranked Katon. After that, however, he would pass out and most likely die.

"This is madness." Itachi whispered to himself, as he slowly, neck protesting with every movement, brought his head up. He could see, at a clear distance of several dozen meters, thanks to his dojutsu, the Kyubi, looking at completely fresh has before. Itachi whimpered in some corner of his mind as the watched the Biju actually smirk, body slowly rising as it prepared to launch another one of those dammed Bijudama. He wouldn't survive this one, he knew. Itachi could maybe use his own life force to summon a Susanoo, and perhaps seal the Kyubi, but in doing so he would die. And if he didn't block, he would die. He couldn't move, he could barely keep himself from collapsing flat on his face from the sheer exhaustion.

Itachi sent a prayer to Kami, that he would survive this battle. He heard a ripping noise, and as he turned to look, the world went black.

[Small Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Jiraiya watched as Itachi seemed almost broken, completely unable to move when even as a 13 year old he had seemed like he would fight on par with Kakashi. And now, after fighting with Naruto for just a brief few moments, and after well, surviving a Bijudama, the boy, for he was no more than a child still, to Jiraiya, seemed at death's door. The Kyubi seemed ready to unleash another Bijudama, and as Jiraiya watched a man cloaked in an Akatsuki robe use some sort of Jutsu to drag the young Uchiha away, Jiraiya judged that now was the time to act.

He leaped down on top of the possessed Jinchuriki, and slapped down both palms on Naruto's back, wincing as he felt the specially concocted cream on them start searing away from the incredibly caustic chakra of the Kyubi's, and quickly sealed the Kyubi, tamping down the chakra for now.

He leapt off of Naruto again as all of the chakra whisked away, leaving a groaning and blood covered teen. Jiraiya frowned, quickly sending off a toad to tell Kakashi and Gai that it would be safe to come now, and to bring Sakura quickly. He knelt and gently picked up the young ninja, his own Godson, cradling the young Uzumaki in his arms, his own face a mask of sorrow for the boy. Here, where there was no one to witness his pain, he let a single tear fall, lamenting that he could not keep his Godson safe from the Akatsuki, and yet fiercely proud that Naruto could protect himself and his friends. Jiraiya quickly cleared a small space and set the teen back down on his back, smoothing the boy's hair, and who wasn't a child to him, an ancient war relic? Even Kakashi and Gai felt like children to him. And Naruto was even younger, barely 15 and already S-rank.

Jiraiya knelt next to Naruto, remembering their training trip, and felt a desperate rage inside of him at the thought of Naruto being captured. He knelt beside Naruto, the teen seeming to be at least peacefully resting, and felt that this is what it must feel like to have another son.

[Approaching the Small Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Kakashi panted, Gai next to him and not much better. The two Jonin had run from one extreme of the Land of Fire to the next, and to the two of them it felt entirely too much like the Third Shinobi war for either of their comforts. Both of nodded at each other, secure in knowing that while Kakashi was in general more clever, and Gai more straightforward, they had both come to the conclusion that they needed to step up their training. Kakashi had, at one point, claimed the coveted S-rank, before allowing taking on a Genin team to mellow himself out, and Gai had never really tried for such a thing.

But both swore they would retake or achieve it, and soon.

Gai led a full squadron of ANBU and the rest of their former back-up team, and Kakashi had raced onward with Sakura on his back, knowing that Naruto must need medical help after fighting solo against four S-rank ninjas.

Kakashi landed heavily, the long journeys taking their toll as he fell to his knees, Sakura gasping as she gave him a look, before bounding over to the blood-covered Naruto, hands shaking as they tried to find out what was wrong with her teammate.

[Small Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Jiraiya looked up with concern as a visibly panting Kakashi carried Sakura into the crater before collapsing to his knees, he waved away Sakura's concern and directed the girl to Naruto, rising and walking over to the young Jonin.

"What have you done to yourself, Kakashi?" He asked in concern. He hadn't realized the gap between himself and the Jonin had been this wide, to push the young ninja to the edge of exhaustion.

"No…No more than what needed to be done, Jiraiya-sama. I…Gai and I could barely keep up with your pace, and then we rushed to intercept the relief teams, and then I came on ahead with Sakura. But that…I owe it to Naruto to do that. If I'm not" And here Kakashi looked profoundly sad and disappointed in himself, "If I'm not strong enough to protect or even assist Naruto, then the least I can do is help him recover more swiftly."

Jiraiya frowned. He then patted Kakashi on his shoulder, and told the Jonin to at least lie down a bit, they would camp here for the night before returning to Konoha, none of them were in a condition to return to the village right then.

He then looked up again as Gai and the rest of the relief teams landed, all of them looking awed at the vast swathes of devastation and the two huge craters, left in the wake of a Kage-class battle.

Jiraiya quickly issued orders, getting the ANBU teams wrapped up in preparing tents, Team Gai preparing food, and Temari acting as Sakura's aide in case she needed anything while healing Naruto. He then sat down and waved at Gai to sit next to him, watching the younger man slump to the ground, even Gai's seemingly boundless energy sapped by the events of the day.

"Rest, Gai. You and Kakashi worked the hardest out of all of us. Go to sleep early, and don't worry about shifts, the ANBU and I will take care of that." Jiraiya smiled reassuringly at the Jonin, who tiredly saluted, pushed himself to his feet, and tiredly trudged over to his tent.

[Next Morning, Small Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Naruto groaned as he woke up, his ears ringing with the solid hour long lecture given to him by Zangetsu and Hyorinmaru, about overusing his powers and that now someone existed who knew about the majority of them, when he had been secretive for so long.

He had then had to endure a lecture from the Kyubi about knowing his limits, and since when did the giant furball care about that?

"Since recently, brat. I'd much rather be stuck inside of you than used for whatever harebrained scheme Akatsuki wants me for. I'd rather be tearing your corpse apart and setting your precious village on fire than be sealed inside of you, but I'll take what I can get for now. And I can't enjoy that if you go off and overstress your body and force _me _to step in for you."

Zangetsu had let him off with one final warning. "Don't go overboard for the next few days. _He_ is still grumpy about being awoken, and next time you might have to learn your Bankai early if he wakes up again."

Naruto slowly sat up, inside of a large canvas tent, he groaned softly as he staggered out of the tent, and beheld a small, cozy looking campsite. He spotted an ANBU, and waved. The ANBU turned and waved, then stilled. He suddenly seemed to split down the middle, and with a smirk playing across his lips, tongue sliding out, Orochimaru stepped out of the halves.

Naruto saw red.

[Chapter End]

So that was fun! If you haven't guessed who Naruto's last sword is, (and I deliberately avoided naming him outright), I hope you do after this chapter!

Yayy plot progression again! I'll pretty much be following the plot. Maybe.

Probably not. I haven't so far, after all!

Evil cliffhangers are evil, and I love them.

Rate and Review, please!


	7. Chapter 7

I'm trying to vaguely stick with the plot timeline, but there are already changes, of course.

[Some Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Naruto clenched his teeth. It was obvious that no one else had sensed Orochimaru from the lack of jutsu exploding form tents. So it was just him for now. He could feel that his body was not yet ready to handle channeling the Kyubi's chakra after the intense and extreme level he had had to use it at to survive clashing with four Akatsuki members. This plus the way his reiatsu was depleted meant that he had to rely on just his own power for the battle as he wouldn't be able to call on much more than just the zanpakutos themselves, not having recovered sufficiently to even use a single Shikai.

Naruto smirked. His own power would be sufficient for this.

Orochimaru seemed amused by Naruto's confidence. "Kukuku, Naruto-kun. I see you've grown stronger. But all of this destruction was obviously caused by the Kyubi. Maybe Sasuke really is stronger than you. How…disappointing."

Naruto's smirk slowly morphed into a fierce scowl. "I have trained too hard for this, Orochimaru! Tell me where you've kept Sasuke!"

The traitorous Sannin smiled, his tongue sliding out to lick his lips. "Kukuku, Naruto-kun, I don't think I'll tell you. Instead, I think I'll capture you!"

Naruto's eyes shone bright blue as chakra seemed to glow around his body, his clothes flapping in the breeze whipped up by the teen's swirling power. "If you won't tell me where Sasuke is, I'll just have to beat it out of you!"

The teen leaped forward as the Sannin leaped backwards, Naruto's right hand pulled backwards as he charged up a Rasengan. In two seconds it had formed, and he thrust it forward at Orochimaru's face, catching the man off-guard as he hadn't expected Naruto to be able to form the technique without a Shadow Clone.

The Rasengan crashed into Orochimaru, drilling straight through his head, which disintegrated into mud.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise as he thought, 'Mud clone!' The teen spun towards the forest, eyes frantically trying to spot the ex-Sannin. As he spotted the man walking out from behind a pair of trees, Naruto called out to the older ninja.

"Scared of little ol' me, Orochimaru? I thought you'd be capable of taking on a ninja of my caliber!"

Orochimaru's grin seemed frozen. "You're a hundred years too early to be trash talking with me, Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned. "Care to back that up? I've been itching to try out this new technique!" Naruto swept both of his hands out to his sides, well away from his body. Chakra seemed to almost explode with intensity as it swirled in his palms. The very air seemed to be pressing down on Orochimaru, and the man wondered why none of the other ninja had woken up yet. All other thoughts were swept from the Otokage's mind as twine Rasengan formed in Naruto's palms. But the chakra didn't seem to be done just yet, as it continued to spin, faster and faster.

"You're a fool if you think I'll let you complete that technique, whatever it is, Naruto-kun! And fools die on the battlefield!" Orochimaru leaped forwards to interrupt Naruto's technique, but just as he spat the Kusanagi out, he was beset by twin Naruto clones, both holding a Rasengan in each hand. Orochimaru danced for a few seconds with the two clones, all three combatants well aware of a keening noise behind them as whatever it was that Naruto was charging got stronger and stronger.

One clone struck out, with Orochimaru bending out of the way just in time, as the clones were surprisingly swift. The Rasengan obliterated a tree, but the rest of the branches fell on the clone, dispersing it and causing the other Rasengan it held to also explode. The last clone and Orochimaru managed to barely escape the blast radius in time, the clone looking thankful and Orochimaru looking highly shocked.

'This…is the Kyubi brat? How has he grown so strong?! Sasuke isn't even close to him!'

The Snake Sannin had to dodge out of the way as he was again attacked by the Naruto clone, who then seemed to commit suicide by spontaneously impaling itself on the Kusanagi. Orochimaru had enough time to frown before both Rasengan the clone had been wielding exploded on either side of the former Sannin, obscuring him from sight for a few seconds.

When the smoke and dust settled, Orochimaru emerged relatively unscratched. His clothes seemed to be frayed, but besides that, he was unharmed. He theorized that the Rasengans had not been directed, and had merely exploded mostly in a sphere rather than on his person. The Sannin looked towards the middle of the camp just in time for Naruto's technique to be completed.

Naruto grinned as he felt the Rasengans twist into their new shape. He hefted the oddly shuriken shaped Rasengans, proudly explaining, "What the Fourth Hokage and Jiraiya sensei couldn't do, I did! I have completed the Rasengan! Now, face my power, Orochimaru!" The twin Rasengan seemed to have a small shuriken made out of white chakra spinning around their centers, and gave off a high pitched but low volume keening noise.

The Genin disappeared, and Orochimaru had barely enough time to utter an expletive before both enhanced Rasengans slammed into him, the force of the attack now multiplied even higher by the addition of Wind Natured chakra. Naruto watched as the Rasengans seemed to grind into the Sannin before the man was consumed by a large explosion.

As Naruto looked back, he saw that his fellow ninja had finally woken up. The teen casually created two more Futon: Rasengans, as he had added the buildup more for Orochimaru's benefit, and used one of them to clear away the dust cloud.

Jiraiya sleepily yawned behind him, as did the other ninjas. "Naruto, as much as I appreciate the alarm clock, can you not practice S-rank jutsu in the middle of the camp?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, using the existing wind-enhanced Rasengan to point out the extremely pissed and battered looking Orochimaru.

"I think I had a good reason, Ero-sensei." Naruto smirked, turning to face the Snake Sannin, who had opened his mouth as far as he could, the jaw unhinging with twin cracks that made everyone present wince.

Orochimaru completed his skin shedding technique, leaping out of the disintegrating mouth. His eyes seemed impossibly cold, and his lips were curled into a snarl. The assembled ninjas gulped, swallowing down their fear at the sight of the naked rage in the rouge S-rank ninja's eyes.

Naruto swept his unoccupied hand out, motioning for the others to stay back. The teen's face seemed to exceed the Sannin's in sheer coldness, seeming to be carved from a glacier. "No. Leave him to me." Everyone looked to Jiraiya, who nodded his head and took a step back. The ANBU immediately stepped back as well, with Kakashi and Gai tightening their stances, not entirely convinced Naruto could take on Orochimaru without the help of the Kyubi. The members of the Rookie 11 that were there refused to budge from their positions, wanting to help Naruto, but unable to see how they would be of any use either.

Naruto grinned at Orochimaru, holding his hand out mockingly. "I'll give you one last chance, Orochimaru. Tell me where Sasuke is, and I won't have to hurt you anymore than I already have."

The Sannin's face contorted into a rictus of fury as he stabbed forwards at Naruto, the Kusanagi instantly lengthening in response to its master's order. The sword speared out at the Jinchuriki, who simply reached out with his suddenly occupied hand, deflecting the strike into the forest with a Rasengan. The Wind enhanced Rasengan was then thrust forwards, Orochimaru, now well aware of how damaging the attack was, dodged to the side and backwards, skidding into a tree.

The Kusanagi shortened to its original length, then burst forwards again, spearing out at Naruto rapidly. The teen slapped the blade away again with his normal Rasengan, then, pumping chakra into his legs, blurred forwards, briefly disappearing from sight as he buried the Futon: Rasengan into Orochimaru's gut.

Another explosion followed, swallowing the Snake Sannin yet again. Naruto hopped backwards, summoning forth four clones. All four formed Futon: Rasengans and two dashed forwards, meeting the former Leaf nin sword for Rasengan, jutsu warring against ancient steel. Naruto held out both of his hands, Rasengan forming in an instant as the two clones slammed their Futon: Rasengans into his normal ones. Naruto grit his teeth as the whine kicked up a notch, the ANBU and Kakashi wincing as their more sensitive senses ached at the keening noise.

Orochimaru panted as he fought to keep both clones in his field of vision at all times. The blasted things had formed more Rasengans, and now wielded one normal and one wind natured each. With their sheer speed and ferocity, he realized exactly how much Naruto had set up the previous version of this match up. Now that Naruto was genuinely trying to buy time for him to complete whatever technique he had thought up mid battle, the two clones were after him constantly, barely giving him room to think. But Orochimaru wasn't a certified genius for nothing.

Unfortunately, Orochimaru's genius level intellect was not quite at the level of the Nara's, so not even he could come up with a plan that extended beyond "Kill the clones". Suddenly the keening reached a new pitch. He spared an instant to take a quick look at the original to see the boy holding two Rasengans in each hand, all four flickering with Wind chakra. The two clones he was facing abruptly dispersed, leaving the Snake Sannin to yet again be in the middle of exploding Rasegans.

As Naruto looked up, having completed his new technique, two Rasengans and two Futon: Rasengans combined together, he grinned, and sped forwards, barley gving Orochimaru the time to think before plunging the incredibly unstable, oversized Rasengan into the man's stomach.

"Oodama Rasengan!" The teen shouted as the extremely large Rasengan seemed to detonate with far more force than would be expected, the other ninjas behind him unable to see due to the intense light shining from the remnants of the explosion.

[Undisclosed Location]

Itachi wearily opened his eyes, feeling a throbbing ache throughout his entire body. He could barely believe that he had survived the sheer and overwhelming force of merely the Four-tailed version of the Kyubi. Had it not been for Tobi, he surely would have died.

The S-rank ninja slowly moved his head to the side as a shadow fell across his face. He could barely make out the bright orange hair of the Leader of Akatsuki.

"Itachi…You have now fought the Kyubi Jinchuriki twice. Tell me, how powerful is he?" Pain's gravelly voice distracted Itachi from his thoughts on how utterly terrifying the visage of a Kyubi-possessed Naruto was. Itachi closed his overstressed eyes as he spoke softly.

"The first time could not even be called a battle due to my foolish little brother interfering. Back then Uzumaki seemed perfectly capable of calling on the Kyubi's chakra, and now he is very adept. As far as power…using the Kyubi's chakra he slew Kisame. Was Tobi able to retrieve any of their bodies?"

Pain intoned the word no before leaving the room. "I'll leave you to recover, Itachi."

Itachi's eyes flew open as he jerked upright on the bed, a strangled noise coming from his throat. "Leader! Wait!"

Pain looked back, surprised at the fear he could sense in the Uchiha's voice. "What? What is it? What could cause you to fear?"

Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan stared straight into Pain's Rinnegan, fear visible to his fellow S-rank ninja. Itachi spoke hurriedly, his sudden exertion exhausting him greatly. "Uzumaki has some being of incredible power living inside his mind, even more powerful than the Kyubi. It was able to break my Tsukuyomi!"

[Random Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

As the smoke cleared, the Leaf ninja gasped as they stared at the huge trench left behind by the much more powerful Rasengan. Naruto stood above it, looking down at the broken body of Orochimaru. The teen's eyes seemed to burn with power, and the assembled ninjas suddenly felt as if the air itself was pressing down on them.

Kakashi was surprised, yet again, to feel how powerful Naruto was. 'This much chakra pressure, at such a young age…He truly is the son of his parents. Minato-sensei, how proud would you be of your son if you could see him now?'

Kakashi was snapped out of his internal musing by a sudden sound like choking coming from Naruto. He looked at the young ninja in surprise as he and everyone else shouted with shock.

The Kusanagi was pierced straight through Naruto's left lung.

[End Chapter]

And I'll leave it there.

Getting back into the swing of writing now that the semester is almost over!


	8. Chapter 8

It's been a while since I last wrote a chapter. I managed to get ahead of myself, I wrote out the chapter after this one, and for whatever reason that killed my muse :/

But yay I'm back!

* * *

[Random Crater, Konoha-Suna Border]

Naruto's face slackened with surprise and shock as he barely managed to deflect the sword that had screamed towards his heart into his lung. Naruto coughed up blood as he could feel the Kyubi's chakra burning his chakra coils as it fought the poison coating the Kusanagi's blade. He could hear his zanpakutos shouting at him and his foolishness, but all he could focus on was Orochimaru's leering face through the smoke, and the sword in his chest, eerily reminding Naruto of Sasuke stabbing him in the past with the Chidori.

Naruto's eyes blazed with chakra as he lunged forwards, both hands slamming Rasengans into Orochimaru's chest even as blood spurted from his wound and from his mouth. The suddenness of the attack caught the Snake Sannin off-guard, catapulting him into the trees and tearing the sword out of Naruto, making him collapse briefly to the ground. Naruto stood back up, wind enhanced Rasengans bursting into existence in his palms, face furious as he realized his error.

Naruto could feel the Kyubi's chakra working furiously inside him to fight off the poison, grinning grimly as he could feel that it was a losing battle. If he had to die, then well, at least make it a good death.

Orochimaru coughed as, yet again, he could feel the grind of the Rasengans taking its toll on his body. He had expected the Kyubi container to be strong, yes, but not this strong! He had expected Jiraiya to run off without the boy, and do whatever, spying or peeping, not train the boy into the ground. Because it was obvious just looking at the teen, at least, from a S-rank ninja's perspective, that the boy was stronger than he appeared, and was either very close to S-rank or S-rank already in terms of strength. Plus someone had beaten some smarts into Uzumaki. Time to make a tactical retreat, and call the boy close to his lair.

As Naruto closed in on the Snake Sannin again, he skid to a halt as the man began laughing. "Kukuku, Naruto-kun, I see you have grown strong. Maybe even strong enough to fight Sasuke. Come to the bridge of Earth and Fire in two weeks, and you might have a surprise waiting for you." The Sannin took Naruto's momentary hesitation to withdraw with all speed, all too conscious of the incredibly angry Jiraiya and Kakashi, whose Rasengan and Raikiri crashed into the ground he had disappeared into scant milliseconds after his departure.

Naruto took this moment to collapse bonelessly to the ground, veins burning with poison and chakra coils burning with the Kyubi's chakra.

"Naruto!" Naruto could hear his teammates and fellow ninja clamoring over him, and he could feel Lee and Gai carry him close to the fire, Sakura's chakra working feverishly, trying to extract the poison. Naruto closed his eyes, knowing it was futile, he could already feel a deep coldness in his body as his vision darkened.

* * *

Kakashi could hardly believe his eyes. Naruto had managed to go toe to toe with Orochimaru, yet unfortunately the younger ninja was still inexperienced, and had been caught off guard. He watched, nervous with a desperate fervor as Sakura worked, barking orders to the ANBU to fetch water and get some clean pieces of cloth, quickly instructing Kakashi as well to light a hot fire.

Each of the ninja in the camp hurried to their assigned tasks, well aware that Sakura was the only ninja at hand that could save Naruto, with Tsunade several hours hard running away. Temari hovered over Gaara, unsure how to help, but not wanting to leave her brother's side, who still hadn't woken up.

Sakura took notice and gave Temari a small pot of water and a rag, telling her to keep calm and just continue refreshing the wet rag on Gaara's head, and not to worry, she had enough assistants to get Naruto better.

Except, as the minutes crawled by, and Sakura ate first one soldier pill, then two, with no visible improvement in Naruto's state, the assorted ninja began to worry. They had already seen the perspiration coating Naruto's body, and they watched as it seemed to increase. Jiraiya had even felt Naruto's chakra, asking Neji to aid him, and both had proclaimed that the Kyubi seemed to be working just as hard as Sakura in attempting to remove the poison form its' host's body.

Within Naruto's skull, however, a different battle was taking place. The Kyubi was quiet, entirely focused on curing his jailer. He might not _like_ the little brat, but the boy was a good deal better than any of his other hosts, and it would be much easier and more comfortable inside his current one, and not in the clutches of the Akatsuki. However, as much as Kyubi wanted to flood Naruto's body with his chakra, burning out the poison, that would have the opposite affect and kill Naruto from a severe overdose of demonic chakra. So he kept sending focused pulses of chakra to affected areas, but with the amount of chakra reduced to mere pinpricks, he couldn't do much good.

Naruto's Zanpakuto spirits, on the other hand, had entered a furious debate, their wielder lying, face up in the water next to them. They had spent five minutes variously begging and trying to convince the boy not to give up, but it seemed that Naruto's mind had retreated deeper into his consciousness, leaving only an empty shell. So they, Zangetsu, Zabimaru and Hyorinmaru, now debated the wisdom in waking Ryujin Jakka, hoping that the ancient fire dragon would have the means to cure Naruto, being several times more ancient than all of the others put together.

"He needs to be woken, Hyorinmaru! That Sakura girl might be talented, but this poison is something else. If Naruto hadn't needed to use the Kyubi's power yesterday this might already be a moot point."

"I don't think so, Zangetsu, why don't we wait a little longer? You know how cranky he gets when he isn't woken for a battle!" Hyorinmaru had coiled upon himself multiple times, but he would fiercely deny any tremors along his body. He was made of _ice_, for Kami's sake. A dragon made of fire so powerful its' Shikai nearly made it impossible to use his glacial powers made the ice dragon distinctly uneasy. Bad enough when they had separate wielders millennia ago, but now that they were in the same person, _brr._

The argument was cut short when a wall of heat rolled over the two arguing sword spirits. They looked up, watching Zabimaru walking towards them, his face looking as dry as they had seen it. Both faces.

"While you two are arguing, Naruto is dying. So I went and woke up Ryujin Jakka." He gave a flat look to the mildly horrified looks of the other two. Even after millennia of being wielded by one of the most powerful humans to walk the worlds, Zangetsu would still get frightened by the raw power of the greatest elemental sword spirit, and well, for Hyorinmaru, the fear was justified.

Naruto's mindscape shook as a roar so loud it made Kyubi look up, expecting another Biju coming to fight him echoed. And then the space in front of Kyubi's cell was aflame.

* * *

Sakura tried to not let the tears fall, but they slowly worked their way down her face regardless. She could _feel_ Naruto's cells dying under her hands, and no matter how much she and the Kyubi fought, too much of the poison had entered and spread throughout Naruto's body. Unless someone could literally set Naruto's body on fire from within, and burn out the poison, she didn't see how Naruto would live.

To her ever enduring astonishment, it seemed like Naruto's body heard her thoughts as it promptly burst into flame.

"W-what's happening?!" Cries of shock came from the other ninjas, and one of the ANBU was halfway through completing a Water Bullet technique when Jiraiya calmly punched him in the chest, nullifying the man's chakra for a brief second and disrupting his jutsu.

"I apologize, ANBU-san, but no, this is…This is Naruto's last sword. His most powerful."

"Er, Naruto-kun's sword sets him on fire?" Lee looked confused as he scratched his head, voicing the doubts everyone had about the Toad Sannin's statement. "Yes, Lee-kun. At least, when it is curing Naruto of poisons it can. Call it an emergency protection. Naruto should be fine once that fire dies down." Jiraiya calmly met each of the younger ninja's eyes, communicating to them via his body language his utter certainty that Naruto would heal.

Jiraiya motioned to the logs around the campfire. "Come, sit. There's nothing we can do anymore. If Sakura and the Kyubi combined could not defeat that damnable poison, then there isn't a whole lot the rest of us can do." The other ninjas gradually and grudgingly sat down, twitching every time the fire burning around Naruto's body crackled, hissed or spat sparks.

* * *

The other zanpakuto would have said that Ryujin Jakka's eyes blazed with anger, but his entire body did, burning a bright and blinding white as the immense dragon made of pure fire burned away every last bit of the poison in Naruto's body, trusting that the Kyubi would be able to heal the wounded cells left behind.

It took two minutes, and each of the other sword spirits held their breath, not that they needed to breathe, but this still held their breaths as more and more heat rolled off of Ryujin Jakka, quickly evaporating the sewer water and turning the cell into a sauna.

But finally, Ryujin Jakka powered and calmed down, the blinding white fire cooling substantially to a bright, but much dimmer red fire, that being the dragon's normal coloration. "It is done." The deep, bass rumble of the ancient dragon's voice boomed in the small space, making Zabimaru and Zangetsu flinch as the bass actually shook their forms. "Kindly tell Naruto to not get into this sort of mess again, or I am liable to melt his flesh off his bones in our next sparring match. Good day." And with that threatening statement, the massive presence of the fire dragon disappeared, returning to its section of Naruto's mind, sending a roiling blast of pure heat at Naruto, waking the teen up from whatever deep trance he had fallen into.

Naruto awoke with a start, looking around wildly and firing off questions, "What? What happened? Why is all the sewer water gone? Why are you all clustered around me?" He looked up into the suspiciously wet eyes of Zabimaru and Zangetsu, and diamond dust coated eyes of Hyorinmaru.

"Naruto. You gave up on life. What happened to your indomitable will? What happened to your endless spirit? How could you do that to us? To your friends? To your shishou?" Zangetsu's voice shook as he spoke the word "us", and Naruto frowned, confused.

"What do you mean I gave up? I've been fighting this whole time! I kept calling and calling and no one would answer me! Eventually I managed to get ahold of Ryujin Jakka, but all he did was roar and tell me to go away!"

Kyubi intervened before Zabimaru or Zangetsu could retort. "Brat. What did the place you were in look like?"

Naruto looked up into the surprisingly tired face of the Nine Tailed Demon, frowning. "I…I don't know. I think it had a small puddle, and it was all white otherwise. If that little puddle of water hadn't been there I wouldn't have been able to tell which way was up or down."

Kyubi grimaced. "Somehow you accessed one of the deeper levels of my consciousness then. Don't ask me _how_!" he snapped, seeing Naruto drawing breath to do exactly that. "I don't know how you got there, but I do know what you're going to be doing after this. Recovering. Much more of my chakra and your entire chakra network would have been overloaded to the point of death. Try not to do that again." Kryubi smirked at Naruto's open mouthed look of shock.

Zabimaru nudged Naruto. "I think you should wake up now, your friends and allies are probably very worried."

* * *

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, then quickly clenched them shut again, blinded by a wall of bright white light. He tried again, even more slowly, letting his pupils become accustomed to the light. He looked around, and sighed in relief when realized he was in the Konoha Hospital. The teen started when Tsunade suddenly started speaking beside him, giving him a stern look.

"Gaki. Don't do something that stupid again, or I'll tie you to this bed the next time. Your entire body was nearly overloaded by both that fire and the Kyubi's chakra, on top of dealing with that poison. Any longer and you would have died."

Naruto grimaced, and nodded his head in understanding. "When can I leave again Tsunade-baa-chan?"

Tsunade frowned. "As much as I would like to keep you here for another few days, you seem to have healed fully. Not surprising, given it's been a day since you were brought back. You'll be relieved to know that Gaara also suffered no real injury, only having to deal with a mild bout of chakra exhaustion, which you Jinchuriki recover easily from. He wanted to convey his thanks, and his mild irritation at the fact that he owes yet another debt to you, for saving his life once again. I'm going to let you go Naruto, but no strenuous training for at least a day, got it?"

Naruto gulped. "Got it Baa-chan!"

* * *

That took foreverrrrr. I'm still not happy with it, but I want to move on with the plot.

As always, Rate and Review!


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